Governor Shapiro wasn’t on the ballot this year, but he still spent millions campaigning

His name wasn’t on the ballot in 2024, but Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro still spent more than $5.5 million campaigning this year. However, much of that money did not go directly to Democrats running for office in the Commonwealth.

A review of Shapiro’s campaign finance reports for the year shows he spent nearly $1.3 million on expensive consultants and nearly $1 million on private plane tickets, hotels and planning events in 13 states, including Pennsylvania, as well as a small expenditure on new cameras. and online clothing retailers.

Shapiro spokesman Manuel Bonder said the spending was all for the good of Democrats inside and outside Pennsylvania.

“Throughout the 2024 election cycle, Governor Shapiro has been a go-to surrogate for candidates up and down the ballot and campaigned tirelessly across the Commonwealth and in key states – working to defend every state seat. the Democratic majority in the State House and elect pro-freedom candidates. at all levels,” Bonder said in a statement.

Shapiro raked in plenty of donations to his already strong campaign account during and after his run as vice president this summer. Newly filed reports show he ended November with more than $10.6 million on hand.

Recent big donors have included former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, California developer and stem cell research advocate Robert Klein, and Los Angeles-based talent manager Scooter Braun.

The money puts Shapiro in a strong financial position ahead of what could be a competitive reelection race in 2026, while allowing him to continue building a national brand.

Where exactly did Shapiro’s money go?

Shapiro has spent more than $5.5 million from his campaign account this year.

Of that, about $1.7 million went to Pennsylvania candidates. The rest was spent on consultants, private flights, hotels, events and meals for his campaign in 13 states, including Pennsylvania, among other expenses.

Of the $1.3 million the campaign spent on consulting, the largest share went to Denver-based political advertising firm Ascend Digital Strategies and California fundraising adviser Cooper Teboe. Each received $570,000 in fees.

Teboe, who connects major Silicon Valley donors to Democratic candidates, has previously worked with Shapiro. The governor’s financial reports regularly show millions of dollars from tech moguls like LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. It also receives donations from Hollywood producers and celebrities, as well as other West Coast megadonors like Karla Jurvetson and Jennifer Duda, both doctors.

Of the nearly $1 million Shapiro spent on travel and lodging, the majority — $641,000 — was spent on private flights. He also spent at least $121,000 on hotels and $27,000 on meals.

Some of those expenses, like $180 at a Michigan gastropub and $725 at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta, illustrate his frequent stops in other swing states in the run-up to the presidential election.

Shapiro also spent at least $185,000 to attend the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Nearly 80% of this sum was spent on renting event space in a renovated church where it participants welcomed during the four-day affair.

Shapiro also spent $18,000 on hotels in California and $14,000 on lodging in Florida. Most of the latter spent time at the five-star Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, which announcement that “guests are greeted with champagne, stunning ocean views and refreshing tropical breezes.”

His campaign also spent more than $34,000 on hotels in Philadelphia — even though he lives just outside the city — including $13,000 in Philadelphia. the four chic seasonswhere guests can “enjoy stunning, unobstructed views” of the city from the 60th floor of the Comcast Center.

Bonder told Spotlight PA that Four Seasons’ spending was related to Shapiro hosting an annual policy conference for the Democratic Governors Association.

How Did Shapiro Help Pa. Dems?

Many candidates running failed in the Commonwealth this year.

While Democrats narrowly retained their majority in the House of Representatives and did not lose ground in the Republican-controlled state Senate, Republicans easily won elections to Pennsylvania’s three offices: U.S. Attorney general, auditor general and treasurer.

Democrats told Spotlight PA they don’t blame Shapiro, or anyone else, for the losses. However, several party members said they wish the governor would have used some of the millions he still has to promote state candidates a little more.

Most spoke on condition of anonymity because of Shapiro’s power within the party.

The money Shapiro gave to Democrats at the state level on the 2024 ballot was about 30% of his total campaign spending for the year.

He donated $1.25 million and $350,000 to the House and Senate campaign committees, respectively. He also gave $100,000 to attorney general candidate Eugene DePasquale and $25,000 to auditor general candidate Malcolm Kenyatta.

Shapiro’s predecessor, Democrat Tom Wolf, spent just $210,000 on Pennsylvania elections in 2016, although he finished the year with much less than Shapiro — $1.7 million.

But in 2020, without a re-election race, Wolf invested $2.6 million in lower-level Democratic general election campaigns, particularly for the party’s legislative seats. then General Assembly controlled by the GOP.

Chuck Pascal, who chaired Democratic candidate Erin McClelland’s campaign and heads the Armstrong County Democratic Committee, told Spotlight PA that Shapiro’s additional money likely would have made little difference given the low performance of the party in all areas.

Shapiro gave no money to McClelland, a political outsider. She polled much less than Kenyatta, for example, but ultimately only got 20,000 fewer votes than him.

But Pascal, who emphasized that he was speaking for himself and not for McClelland, thinks there is at least one area where Shapiro could have done more.

“The only thing striking about the results is that turnout declined in the Southeast, and particularly in Philadelphia and Montgomery counties,” he said.

Shapiro is a Montgomery County native. He previously represented a state House district there and served as a county commissioner.

“Given the governor’s political strength in the Southeast,” Pascal added, additional spending to increase voter engagement “could have been a place where he could have at least saved Bob Casey.”

Casey, the senior Democratic U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, lost his race by just over 15,000 votes.

According to Shapiro’s campaign, the governor attended 25 public events in southeastern Pennsylvania between late July — when President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid — and Election Day.

The extent of the work that a governor, or any other political figure, does for his or her party during an election is not fully reflected in public reports. A governor may participate in fundraising appeals to help persuade donors, attend national events to talk about important races in their state, or share information about potential donors with various campaign committees, among other intangibles.

Bonder, Shapiro’s spokesman, said that’s what Shapiro does. “Her work securing key support, participating in events, fundraising, filming digital and television ads, and much more was unmatched in Pennsylvania,” he said.

For example, on the Saturday before the election, Shapiro participated in two campaign launches for swing district Democratic candidates — one in Bucks County and one in Northampton County.

In the first, Shapiro warmed up the dozens of people gathered in a suburban park for state Rep. Brian Munroe (D., Bucks), touting to them that “you have the power in your hands” to ensure that the Democrats win from top to bottom. the ballot before introducing Munroe to acclamations.

Munroe would win by 1,100 votes, one of the key victories that preserved the House Democrats’ majority. He told Spotlight PA that he thought there were a number of reasons why he came out on top – but having Shapiro in his corner certainly didn’t hurt.

When Munroe knocked on doors in the weeks leading up to the election, he got a strong impression of the governor’s broad appeal.

“I met with a significant number of Republicans who said that when (Shapiro) was running for vice president, they would have loved to see him in that role,” Munroe said.

Regarding complaints that Shapiro could have done more, Bonder said: “While I understand that some people in politics make bad faith criticisms in order to see their names in the paper, the reality is that no one in this Commonwealth worked harder than Gov. Josh Shapiro that year. fall to run, raise money, film commercials, support and elect candidates who will protect true freedom and get things done.

Jeff Coleman, a Republican activist, argued that Shapiro’s national visibility gave his donors exactly what they wanted: They wrote checks because they believe in his long-term political prospects.

“When you write a check to Governor Shapiro, you’re writing it to whatever the next chapter is going to look like,” Coleman said. “You write a check with the hope of being part of history. This is the type of brand his team has built.

The consultants also noted that the large cash reserve Shapiro has could allow him to invest money in next year’s judicial retention elections, in which three Democratic-elected judges will run for new 10-year terms.

Kate Huangpu of Spotlight PA contributed reporting to this story.

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